Corporate Taxation, R&D Investments and Innovation

In this project, we study the effectiveness of tax policies in fostering innovative firm behaviour. To this end, we combine official survey data on firms’ investments in research and development with administrative patent data. Exploiting substantial variation in local tax rates across German municipalities, we apply quasi-experimental research designs to estimate treatment effects. The results of the project will be central to answering the important question of how public policy can foster innovative behaviour of firms, which has been identified as key driver of economic growth.

Project duration: May 2019 – December 2020

Internal members, ZEW – Leibniz-Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim:

• Prof. Dr. Sebastian Siegloch, ZEW Research Department “Social Policy and Redistribution”

External members:

• Jarkko Harju, PhD, VATT Institute for Economic Research (Finland)
• Dr. Ingo Isphording, IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn
• Prof. Dr. Andreas Lichter, Universität Düsseldorf
• Dr. Max Löffler, Universität zu Köln
• Dr. Thu-Van Ngyuen, Stifterverband, Essen
• Felix Pöge, Max-Planck-Institut für Innovation and Competition, Munich